ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Winthrop’s John Paul Georgio, left, stops safely at second base as East Lynn’s Mathias Fowler tries to put the tag down during a District 16 loser’s bracket game on Wednesday.
By MIKE ALONGI
PEABODY — It was an all-around slugfest for the Winthrop Little League baseball team on Wednesday night, as the team rolled over East Lynn, 11-1, in five innings in a District 16 tournament loser’s bracket game at Lt. Ross Field.
Tyler Rockefeller and JD Parker each knocked in three runs for Winthrop, while Hunter Kennedy, Aidan Cash and Chris Gibbbons each had one RBI.
“The kids played well, we finally swung the bats and made really good contact,” said Winthrop coach Tom Montgomery. “We’ve been working a lot in practice on being more aggressive at the plate and it really payed off in this game.”
The pitching for Winthrop was solid as well, with Rockefeller getting the win after pitching the first three innings and Cash coming on to close out the final two.
“The way you win game is to throw strikes, you don’t walk anybody and you get outs,” said Montgomery. “That’s what we did today, and Tyler and Aidan did a great job of that.”
Winthrop came out and got things going early, with Kennedy smashing an RBI double of the wall in left centerfield to go up 1-0. Winthrop went on to load the bases with just one out, but couldn’t capitalize with any more runs.
Winthrop picked up right where it left off in the second inning. After a run scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 2-0, Rockefeller came up with runners on second and third with one out and hit a two-run single up the middle.
East Lynn was able to grab its only run in the bottom of the third. With the bases loaded and one out, Nelson Carrion hit into a fielder’s choice that brought home Mathias Fowler to make it 4-1.
Winthrop grabbed three more runs in the fourth inning thanks to a passed ball and a two-run double by Parker, then put the game fully out of reach with four more runs in the top of the fifth.
The fifth was highlighted by RBI doubles from Rockefeller and Parker as well as RBIs from Cash and Gibbons to make the score 11-1. With the 10-run lead firmly in hand, Cash went out and pitched Winthrop through a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth to end the game and save some pitches for the next game.
“We were really trying to get that last run across to get to the 10-run rule,” Montgomery said. “It pays off so much to not have to use up all those pitches and now we have plenty to throw out there on Saturday.”
Winthrop will play the winner of Saugus American vs. Wyoma, which will be played today at 5:45 p.m., on Saturday at 1 p.m. East Lynn is eliminated from the tournament after its second loss.
